


Island of Misfit Toys

by lohn_jaurens



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Fighting, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, M/M, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Transphobia, a lot of bad shit has happened to these characters, mentions of drug use, non-binary Lafayette, none of the kids did drugs but a lot of their parents did
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-09-14 15:30:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9189458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lohn_jaurens/pseuds/lohn_jaurens
Summary: Lafayette was the light, Aaron was the brain, Eliza was the kind, and John was the brave. So where did Alexander fit into this family?Also known as another foster care family au





	1. Chapter 1

George sighed, and took a break from the legislation he was trying to draft. He was having a hard time trying to find a way to get funding, and it was frustrating him to no end. He took a drink from the glass of water that was sitting on his desk, and thought about the events that had occurred earlier that day.

He wanted to help every single child he possibly could, but he didn't want to disrupt the balance that he and Martha had worked so hard to craft with the four kids that they already had. He loved each of them, and they all brought something new to their family. They wouldn't be a family without each and every single one of them. Lafayette was the light, Aaron was the brain, Eliza was the kind, and John was the brave.

Each of their kids had specific needs and every time they brought someone new in, there was a big chance that everything would be disrupted. That’s why for the last year, they haven’t even thought about bringing another child in. When Eliza came into their life, she was the missing link that their family had been needing. They felt like they were finally a complete family.

Kitty, their social worker, had called George a few hours ago, and she was immediately put on speaker phone as she discussed what she considers “a time sensitive case” with George and Martha. It was a child that had been dropped into her case load after his last social worker couldn't handle him anymore. His name was Alexander Hamilton, and he was in desperate need of a strong sense of family. Kitty knows how close the Washington clan was, and every child that she thought would fit into their family, was another missing puzzle piece they didn't know they needed.

She gave them the basic rundown of what his story was, and how he came into the care of Kitty. He became a ward of the state after his mother died of the same disease that young Alexander was extremely sick with. He was given to a family as an emergency placement after recovering, and was removed not long after reports of physical abuse came to light by one of Alexander's teachers. He had been in and out of 6 other homes, half were due to the conditions of the family, and the other half were due to Alexander starting fights, and the most recent one, was because Alexander tried to kill himself.

When Kitty told them that, Martha almost burst into tears. She hated seeing kids who needed help, and who had no one to turn to. George couldn’t help but feel like he needed to do something to help this kid, who was clearly crying out for help.

He had Martha made eye contact for a few seconds, her eyes were ablaze with the same thing he had only seen three other times. That was when he knew that they were on the same page.

He turned back to the phone, “Kitty, we’ll have to talk to the other kids, but we would definitely like to follow up on this. We’ll call you back tomorrow, is that alright?”  
  
When Kitty replied, she sounded so relieved that someone was finally going to give Alexander a chance.

He came back to the present, and knew that they had made the right choice, and he just hoped his kids would be okay with giving Alexander a chance. They had to be careful about bringing someone into the house that had violent tendencies, but as they experienced with John, not everyone who has been violent in the past, is dangerous. He looked up at the clock that was ticking on the wall across from him and sighed, 11:27pm.

He got up and turned off his desk lamp and softly shut the door on his way out. He shuffled up the stairs, and went to Aaron’s room, and quietly opened the door to check on his sleeping child. He saw Laf sleeping silently, wrapped in their duvet, with Aaron curled up right beside them. He smiled at his kids, and shut the door silently. He smiled to himself as he continued to the other rooms, knowing he wouldn’t have to go down to Lafayette’s room in the basement, as he already knew where his oldest child was. He opened Eliza’s door, and smiled when he saw her asleep, all the pillows and blankets having been kicked off in her restless sleep. He moved on down to the last room, where he knew John would be sleeping. He found John sleeping, wrapped up in most of the spare blankets in the house.

He walked into his bedroom, and not seeing his beautiful wife lying in bed or in the bathroom, he went downstairs to find her. He found her sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace with a small flickering fire lit in it. The TV was quietly playing a history documentary, something John probably left on the TV, but she wasn’t paying any attention to it. She had her feet tucked underneath her, glasses perched on the tip of her nose, and she was currently knitting what looked like a hat.

He is still in awe of her beauty, and every time he sees, he feels the same way he did when they first met. Her long golden brown hair still as vibrant as is was in her twenties, her intoxicating green eyes needed glasses now, but he still gets lost in them, and he still counts the freckles the were sprinkled across her nose and cheeks, as if he hasn’t counted them a million times already.

She was so engrossed in her project that she didn’t notice that he had entered the room until he was sat beside her on the couch. She looked up over her glasses and smiled at him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders; she leaned into his touch her body fitting perfectly like they were made for each other, and continued working on project. George watched the silent TV, not really watching it, but thinking about Alexander once again.

“Do you think we’re making the right decision?” Martha asked suddenly, drawing George out of his thoughts; she must’ve been thinking about him also. George didn’t dismiss her feelings of hesitation, they loved their family as it was, but George couldn’t pass up this chance to help someone in desperate need of it.

He turned to look at his wife, and she had stopped knitting, and was now biting her lip, her brow furrowed, looking at her hat, but her mind somewhere else. He gently placed his hand on the crease in between her brow, smoothing it out with a comforting gesture he knew she loved. “I do, this boy is just going to get tucked away in some group home until he ages out, lost to the system. He has no family, no one to turn to. We have the space, we have the love, and we could offer him a real chance to get ahead, not continue to fall behind.”

Martha was giving him a shy smile once he was done, she always loved how passionate he was about helping children, and he was right. “We need to talk to the kids before we do anything else.”

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, “of course.”

//

The next morning was as busy as any other. Eliza was sat silently listening to music through her headphones, her nose buried in a book as she ate her oatmeal; John was across from her, seeing how far he could lean his chair without falling while simultaneously eating a plateful of scrambled eggs. Next to him was Lafayette, who chatting happily on the phone to their best friend Thomas, while propping their socked feet up onto Aarons lap, while Aaron was gaming on the DS he had gotten for his birthday last year, ignoring the piece of toast Laf kept shoving in front of him.

George came downstairs, and smiled at the chaos that was happening around him. He poured himself a cup of coffee that Martha had made, kissed his wife, who was standing at the stove cooking an omelet, grabbed a piece of toast and made his way over to the table. John had leaned back a little too far and his chair started to fall backwards, but luckily George was able to reach out and keep the young boy from hitting the ground. John gave him a grateful smile, but went right back to his previous activity.

He sat down and took a long sip from his coffee, before turning to address everyone. “Kids, Martha and I have something we would like to talk to you about?”

This managed to get everyone’s attention, except for Eliza who had her earbuds in, but Aaron waved his hand in front of her face and forced her to look up. When she saw everyone looking at George expectantly she paused her music and removed her earbuds.

“Okay, well, we got a call from Kitty last night, talking about a potential new placement for us.” Lafayette was always the first one to speak, having had this conversation three times already.

“Well, what are they like?” They asked, and George smiled at his child, thinking about how they went from an only child to loving three siblings like they were blood.

“Well, his name is Alexander, he is 15, like Eliza and John, he is apparently very bright, and he’s had a pretty rough life, and really needs a good support system.” George explained, and looked at all four of his children, trying to get a read on what they felt about the potential of bringing Alexander home.

“We’ve all been through a lot.” John was the first one to break the silence.

“Yeah, and you guys have helped all of us through so much.” Eliza added.

“I think we could be able to help Alexander.” Aaron finished, and all four kids nodded their heads, agreeing.

“So, you are all okay with us moving forward to bring Alexander into the family?” George asked, wanting to be completely sure that they were all okay with this. He didn’t want to do something that would upset any of them. But when he looked around, and saw all the genuine smiles and excited looks, he knew they were sure.

“Well, alright then. Martha and I will talk to Kitty about Alexander. Why don’t all of please help clean up the kitchen and finish getting ready for school, I’ll drive you.” They all complied, and soon there were four teenagers moving loudly and quickly around the kitchen. Once they all had filed out, the room felt suddenly empty and quiet and George smiled at his wife from across the room. They were really going to be able to do something good for this kid, and they couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please comment and tell me what you think, i crave attention.  
> Don't forget to come talk to me on my tumblr, @gayerthanyouthought
> 
> A few notes:  
> 1\. So every child in the system is assigned a social worker, but so is every family. Generally the families social worker deals with placing children, and making sure the family has a bunch of resources, as well as doing home checks to make sure the house is still up to CPS standards.  
> 2\. Would you guys be interested in a brief description on how each of the kids came into the care of the Washington's? please let me know in the comments and i could post it at the end of my next chapter.  
> 3\. I decided to make Martha Washington white, while all the other characters are musical-description. I felt like making her white really plays in well with her and George's backstory (would y'all be interested in that?) and i feel like the struggle of interracial relationships of people in older generations isn't addressed a lot, and it was very hard to overcome stigma and discrimination for both of them.  
> 4\. George is a congressman for the state of Virginia, and the legislation he is trying to get funding for is renovations for a severely underprivileged public school. Martha is a lawyer.  
> 5\. Alexander's suicide attempt wasn't necessarily because he wanted to kill himself, rather he did what he needed to do to get out of the situation he was in. This happens a lot with foster kids, where they threaten or attempt to kill themselves to get out of certain homes.  
> 6\. Lafayette is 16 and a junior in high school, Eliza and John are 15 and sophomores, Aaron is 14, but skipped a grade and is a sophomore  
> 7\. Even though this chapter is from George's perspective, the rest of the story should be from Alex's POV, unless otherwise stated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The notes at the end of this chapter will be pretty long. Thank you so much for all the positive and encouraging feedback!

Alex didn’t trust anyone, and he especially didn’t trust his new social worker Kitty Livingston. First of all, what kind of name is Kitty? Second of all, all of his social workers have been overworked, underpaid, and couldn’t/didn’t want to actually help him. He was just going to be another burden on this already lady. Thirdly, she was way too enthusiastic about being assigned to a boy who just tried to kill himself.

When she came to pick him up from the hospital, she seemed way too enthusiastic to be there. Her pink pencil skirt sashayed as she walked, and when she approached Alex she smiled so brightly that he thought he would go blind from her sparkling white teeth. She pulled him into a tight hug the second she got close enough to do so, and ignored (or maybe didn’t notice) his sudden stiffness and lack of return of the hug. She pulled away after a few seconds, and still holding onto his shoulders, she said “I found you a placement I think you are just going to love.”

Alex rolled his eyes, highly doubting he was going to “love” this new placement. His life in the foster care system has been absolutely disastrous so far. Kitty’s smile didn’t falter when Alex didn’t respond to her, and instead kept her manicured hand on his shoulder and began escorting him out of the busy hospital.

He sat on the cool leather seats of Kitty’s Honda Civic, and buckled his seatbelt as Kitty climbed in the driver’s side. Kitty looked over at him before starting the car and driving off without saying anything. Alex stared out the window as the countryside where he had been staying slowly turning into a town on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. called Alexandria. He almost laughed about how Alexander would be living in Alexandria.

They pulled into a gated neighborhood, and Alex’s anxiety started to rise. Gates were never a good sign, they were a signal of wealth, and meant to keep people like Alex out. Poor, immigrant, bastard orphans like himself didn’t belong in neighborhoods like these.

They pulled up to a house facing the Potomac River, and Alex closed his eyes to take a deep breath. The house was huge. A dark red brick exterior, with white siding and a long wrap around porch stood tall in front of him as he climbed out of the safety of Kitty’s car. What kind of family that would live here would agree to take in someone like him?

He followed behind Kitty as she climbed the steps and rang the doorbell. They didn’t have to wait very long before a woman, only in her late thirties, opened the door with a smile bright enough to rival Kitty’s. She had long golden brown hair that fell in soft waves over her shoulder, with a few pieces falling stray on the side of her face. The first thing he thought when he saw her pale skin was ‘oh great, I’m just a fucking charity case’.

“Good morning Kitty!” She exclaimed before pulling Kitty in a tight hug. When she pulled away she noticed Alex standing behind her. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she stuck out a hand for Alex to shake. “Hello, you must be Alexander. I’m Martha, and it is so nice to meet you!” Alexander looked at her hand for a few seconds before hesitantly reciprocating the shake. Martha’s hands were soft, and warm, and her handshake was firm but gentle, and it was the first comforting thing Alex had felt in years.

“Please, please come in.” She said as she stepped aside to allow Alex and Kitty to walk through the door. Kitty confidently walked in, and Alex walked in behind her, hunched in on himself, unsure as what to expect from this new household.

Immediately in front of them is a large staircase, and Martha ushered them to the left and into the dining room. There was a large dark skinned man sitting at the table who stood up and smiled when they walked in. All Alex could focus on was how large the man was, and how easily he could potentially hurt him.

Martha walked up and kissed the man on the cheek, and Alex assumed that maybe he was her husband. He quickly stuck his hand out for Alex to shake, and Alex’s reflexes took over and he flinched hard and took a step back. George looked startled for a minute, before retracting his hand and smiling at the boy instead.

“Nice to meet you Alexander, I’m George Washington.” Alex nodded in acknowledgement, and quickly sat down beside where Kitty was sat, putting as much distance between him and George as possible.

“Why don’t you have one of the others show Alexander around while we talk?” Kitty asked as she pulled out what Alex assumed were his files, and George was immediately nodding his head.

“Of course. Of course.” He turned around and yelled down a hallway, “Lafayette, can you come up here please!” His booming voice made Alex flinch slightly in his seat. There was a loud crash that sounded like it came from the basement and an excitable young kid came bounding around the corner.

“Yes papa?” He asked, his French accent not heavy, but still noticeable.

“Could you give Alexander here a tour of the house, and show him his room?” George asked. The boy, Lafayette, nodded his head vigorously while walking over to Alexander and grabbing his arm and practically dragging him out of his seat. They went onto the other side of where the front door was and into a formal living room with a fireplace on one side and a piano on the other. As soon as they were out of sight of the adults Alex practically ripped his hand out of the grip of Lafayette, crossing his arms in front of him.

Lafayette looked offended for a second before putting on a less bright smile, and introducing himself to Alex. “Bonjour, my name is Gilbert Du Motier, Marquis De Lafayette. I go by they/them pronouns and if you can’t respect that we are going to have a problem.” They said, looking nervously at Alexander, obviously afraid of what he might say.

“Of course I will respect your pronouns, I’m not a jackass.” That was the first thing Alex had said since being released from the hospital, and he was kind of glad that that was what he said. He would never intentionally miss-gender someone. Lafayette looked relieved at his comment, and smiled a genuine smile.

“Well this is what we have nicknamed the party room, we don’t really use this, expect when Aaron decides he wants to play the piano, or mama and papa decide to throw a holiday party.” Lafayette said, before continuing on through a glass door to a room with built-ins on the side closest to them, and a desk pushed up against the other end of the room.

“This is mainly Martha’s office; she’s a lawyer so her work comes home with her a lot.” They said before looking around the room and walking past Alexander and going back into the so called “party room.” They walked to the other side of the room and to a hallway behind the stairs, where there was a set of stairs leading down to a basement, and across from that a bathroom.

“My bedroom is down in the basement, and now Aaron’s room is down there with me. It’s a little boring so we won’t go down there right now, but you are always welcome down there too.” They said, and Alex smiled at them, the fact that he was being included made him feel happier than he has felt in a long time.

“So how many kids are there in the house?” Alex was curious, as the house seemed very large for only two of them.

“There are three others, well four now including you. They are upstairs in John’s room I think.” They said before gesturing down the hallway. “Down there is the kitchen and the living room, along with a breakfast nook that we eat in occasionally.”

Alex nodded and followed Lafayette through the dining room where all the adults paused talking as they walked through, and up the stairs to the second story.

“This will be your room,” they said gesturing to the room immediately to the right of the top of the stairs. “The one next to yours is Johns, and the one on the other side of the hallway is Eliza’s. At the end of the hall is George and Martha’s bedroom.” Alex nodded, and opened the door to his new bedroom.

He had to suppress a gasp; he had never had a room this nice. Nice hardwood floors, with a big double bed in the middle with a soft looking white duvet and lots of fluffy pillows. On the side closest to the door there was a large white desk and a chair, with a brand new journal and a pack of nice gel pens sat on top of the desk, and a large mirror hung above it. On the other end there was a built in window seat in between two different closets.

Alex heard a giggle behind him and saw Lafayette leaning in the door frame smiling at him.

“It is nice is it not?” They said.

“This is all for me?” Alexander couldn’t believe that he didn’t have to share. He’s never had a bedroom all to himself, and never even been a bedroom as large as this one, and it was all for him. This was too good to be true.

“You ready to meet the others?” They asked and Alex hesitated. Of course he would have to meet all of them eventually, but he wasn’t sure if they were going to like him. He was too much for others sometimes. He really wanted to make a good first impression, and he actually wanted this placement to stick.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Please comment and tell me what you think!  
> Coming up next will be Alex's introduction to the rest of the clan, and a family dinner!  
> Alex is a little angry fluff ball, and he really just needs someone to love him.  
> Alex is bipolar, but he is unaware of that, he just knows he has different stages of moods.  
> In my head i picture Kitty as a blonde Elizabeth Olsen.  
> As promised, here is how each of the children came to be with the Washington's.  
> Lafayette was only 6 year old when their parents died in a plane crash. The Washington’s were their godparents, and they were who they was sent to live with. They showed up on their doorstep with a social worker, small, and scared, and didn’t exactly know what was going on. They quickly warmed up to the couple, and refers to them as ‘mom and dad’. They raised them like they were their own, and Lafayette was adopted a year later. When they were thirteen, they told George and Martha about the confusion with their gender. They didn’t feel like a boy, but they didn’t feel like a girl either. After research, they found a term that matched how they felt, ‘non-binary’. They go by Laf, or Lafayette, and they love their family, and their family loves them. They are now 16 years old, a junior in high school.  
> Aaron Burr and his older sister Sally were left in the care of their grandfather for the night by their mother. When their mother did not come back for a couple of days, missing persons was filed. She was found a day later, in a hotel room, dead, having OD’d on heroine. Their father had died two years prior, and so their grandfather continued to have full custody of the pair. They were removed from his care six months later, after Sally made a report of physical abuse. Aaron was found to have sustained two broken ribs that didn’t heal properly, multiple bruises and deep lacerations on his back from what appears to be a belt. Sally was quickly taken in and adopted by a family, and they didn’t want Aaron. Aaron was removed from his first placement after reports of abuse, and was then placed with the Washington’s. Lafayette quickly became fiercely protective of their little brother, and the two are practically attached at the hip, despite the two year age difference. Aaron is 14 years old, but is so bright he skipped a grade and is in his sophomore year of high school.  
> John Laurens and his father moved to Washington D.C. to further his father’s political career when John was about 10. That is also when John decided to talk to his father about how he was feeling like he was attracted to boys, and his father did not take it well. He beat him ruthlessly until John was in a coma. He woke up two weeks later, and was put into fostercare, seeing as he had no family willing to take him in. he moved around many foster homes, constantly being kicked out of them for starting fights and being disrespectful. He didn’t tell anyone else about his sexuality, and tried to hide the feelings even from himself. This caused a war inside of John, and he walked around mad at the world. His 7th home in 2 and ½ years was the Washington’s, and at first George and Martha were hesitant about taking him in. He had reports of violent tendencies, and they didn’t want to bring anyone in that could bring harm to their children. However, after a month, John snapped. He yelled and cried at Lafayette, and that is when they discovered that he was hiding who he really was. He was hurt because he couldn’t accept how he felt, but with love and devotion from the rest of the house, he finally came out. He became fiercely protective of his siblings, and even though he still got into fights, he fought to protect his siblings. He was soon apart of the family, and they loved him like the others. He is 15 and a sophomore in high school.  
> When Eliza was 8, she and her two sisters were removed from their biological family’s home, after they were found producing, distributing, and consuming methamphetamines with the girls in the house. Reports of sexual abuse on all of the girls from their biological uncle were also found. There were no homes willing to take in all three girls, and so they were each split up in able to place them better. Eliza was placed in a string of physically abusive homes, and the ones that weren’t, found her PTSD and anxiety too difficult to handle. She was placed in the Washington’s after 7 years in the foster system, and they were able to place her in therapy that is dealing with her PTSD and anxiety. She is the newest addition to the household, but just as much a part of the house as the others. She is kind, and is always there to help her siblings through anything. She is calm, and is probably the most rational. She is closest with John, and they are rarely found apart. She keeps him calm, while he keeps her out of her head. She still holds out hope that one day her and her sisters will be reunited.  
> 


	3. Chapter 3

Lafayette smiled at Alex and gestured for him to follow them, as they pushed themselves off from where they were resting on the door frame. Alex followed them as they simply went to the door right next to Alex’s. They knocked loudly before simply opening the door, not waiting – or expecting – a response.

Alex quickly surveyed the room in front of him as Lafayette, and found the three other kids in the house scattered around the room. There was a boy who was leaning against the headboard, his curly hair tied back into a loose bun at the nape of his neck, with a few pieces falling out and framing his face. He had on a faded band t-shirt with holes in it, and Alex couldn’t tell if they were there for fashion, or from ware, and his dark jeans were the same. There was a pillow in his lap and there was a girl lying on top of it, with the boy running his hands through her silky, inky black hair. She was in an oversized sweatshirt and shorts that were barely visible underneath, and looked half asleep before she noticed Alex standing in the doorway. The final boy was on a chair pulled up beside the other two, and had his feet propped up on top of the bed. His head was almost clean shaven, with a little bit of fuzz on top, and he was the nicest dressed out of all of them. He had on a nice button dark blue button down tucked into dark wash jeans.

When Lafayette bounded into the room, they jumped onto the bed, almost completely dislodging the boys feet from where they rested.

“Ma famille, this is Alexander.” They stated, gesturing to Alex who was still standing awkwardly in the doorway. Alex waved at everyone in the room, who were studying at him critically.

After a few agonizing moments, everyone smiled at him, and the boy with the curly hair waved him over to where they were all seated.

“What’s up man, I’m John Laurens, he/him.” He said, shaking Alex’s hand as soon as he walked over.

“This,” he said patting the girls head, “Is Eliza Schuyler, she/her.” She waved from her position, but made to move to get up and shake his hand, so he just waved back.

“And that nerd over there is Aaron Burr, he/him.” Aaron rolled his eyes as John’s comment, probably used to the way the other boy acted.

“Pull up a seat man, join the party.” He said, smiling brightly. Alex looked around, and found no other surface suitable to sit on. He was standing there, unsure as to what he should do before Lafayette pulled him down onto the bed, next the where they were sat.

“This is probably the farthest thing from a party Laurens.” Aaron said, not looking up from his phone. John clutched his chest in mock horror.

“How dare you Aaron Burr, insulting me, on this day, in my own home.” Aaron just rolled his eyes at John’s comment, and stood up.

“Later losers, I’m going to go get some food and do my homework, because, ya know, I actually care about my grades.” He stated before walking out of the room. Eliza sat up from where she was laying, and climbed off the bed.

“I’m going to go take a nap.” She spoke so softly that Alex had to strain to hear what she said, but John smiled widely at her as she left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

“Don’t mind Liz, she takes a while to warm up to new people.” John explained, as he scooted over to make more room on the bed for Alex. Alex smiled gratefully, and sat back against the headboard next to him.

“So are all of you adopted?” Alex askes the others suddenly after a few minutes of silence. The other two in the room looked at him startled, but not exactly angry. John opens his mouth to say something, but Laf beats him to it.

“Me and Aaron are adopted officially, but George and Martha wouldn’t dream of losing any one of us, and that includes you now.”

“Aaron and I.” John corrects, and Lafayette just rolls their eyes.

“I don’t think they’ll want me, no one has ever wanted me. I’m annoying and every home I have been in have sent me right back.” Alex says quietly, fiddling with the loose strings on the comforter he was sitting on.

“Hey Alex, look at me,” John said, and when Alex lifted his head, He gave Alex a soft smile, “I’ve been in seven homes, Eliza’s been in twelve. They didn’t care about us, but the Washington’s are different. They care about us, they care about how we feel and they won’t find you annoying and they won’t kick you out, I promise.” He stuck his pinky out, wiggling it until Alex giggled and interlocked their pinkies, promising that this one would actually be different.

\--

Alex was woken up from his restless sleep later that night by high pitched screaming coming from somewhere in the house. He sat up quickly, and it took him a couple of seconds to actually wake up and realize that he should get up and see who was screaming and why.

He pulled the covers from off of his body, and shivered as the cool air hit his warm body. He got out of bed and walked out into the hallway, and that was when he found out the screaming was coming from Elizas room. George and Martha were standing in the hallway as well, but they weren't making any move to go into Elizas room. After a few seconds, John stumbled out of his room rubbing his eyes and saying, “I’ve got this, I’ve got this.” He softly opened Elizas door, and quickly slipped inside, shutting the door behind him.

Only about a minute later did the screams stop, and instead turned into the quiet sobbing. George and Martha sighed with relief, and they smiled at Alex before returning to their room. Alex stood there for a second, confused and unsure as to what to do. He decided that it was probably best if he went back to into his room instead of standing the in the hallway like an idiot.

He climbed back into bed, confused, yet oddly comforted. After his mother died, he used to get night terrors about everything he had suppressed to be a rock for his mom. He would have nightmares about his mom dying, about himself dying, about watching his brother get swept away in the waves and the winds of the hurricane. No one was ever there for him, no one rushed to his aid when he cried, when he broke down and wanted to die. But here, everyone came rushing to Eliza when she needed help, and he hoped that would mean they would come rushing when he needed help. Maybe this one would be different, maybe John wasn’t lying to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah thank you so much for reading! Please comment and tell me what you think!!


	4. Chapter 4

Alex was always an early riser, and this morning was no exception. He woke up just as the sun had started to rise, casting pink and orange shadows all over his bedroom. He pushed himself out of bed and went and sat in the window seat, and watched as the rest of the world began to wake up. He watched people slowly open their blinds, and people get in their cars on the way to work.

Today was a Friday, and instead of enrolling Alex in school that day, only for it to suddenly be the weekend, they decided to wait until Monday. They wanted to give him time to adjust, and while Alex was grateful for the thought, he also wanted to start school, because that was what he was good at.

With great protest from Lafayette, the others still had to go to school, leaving Alex home alone with Martha, who decided it would be best to work from home for the day, so Alex wouldn’t be by himself.

He could hear the shower running, and shuffling out in the hallway, a telltale sign that the others were up and getting ready for their day. Alex decided to step out of his room and eat breakfast with the others before they left for school.

When he came out of his room, he saw John sitting in the middle of a mess of papers and supplies, putting his shoes on. Eliza was standing in the doorway of her room, just watching John. When she lifted her head and met Alex’s eyes, she quickly looked down and away.

Alex walked around the mess and made his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Aaron was sitting at the bar, his arms wrapped around his head, snoring softly. Lafayette stood up when Alex walked in, accidentally got their foot caught on one of the legs on Aaron’s chair, causing themselves to stumble slightly, while moving Aaron’s chair, abruptly waking him up.

Alex laughed, and Aaron glared at him before staring angrily into his coffee mug that was in front of him. Lafayette softly patted his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off.  
  
Alex walked around to where they had the coffee maker set up, and poured himself a cup.

“Do you need any sugar with that?” Lafayette asked him, pushing the jar full of sugar towards him. Alex just shook his head and took a large drink of straight black coffee, slightly burning his mouth but proving his point, he caused Lafayette to scrunch their nose in disgust.

Eliza and John came into the kitchen at that time. Eliza grabbed a muffin and John took a bottle of water, and a granola bar that Laf threw at him. They walked out of the back door quickly, followed by Aaron with a travel mug full of coffee and Lafayette holding the keys in their hand. They through a “bye Alex” over their shoulder and just like that Alex was alone.

He finished his coffee, rinsed out the cup, and decided to head back upstairs.

When he reached the top, he noticed that Johns door was wide open, and he was curious about his new foster brother, so he decided to go in and look around. He wasn’t going to go in and dig around and open drawers and all of that. No, he respected his privacy, he just wanted to look at all the posters on his walls and take in all the small details he didn’t have the chance to do the day before.

There were posters with bands and musicians he had never heard of hung up all over the room. There were photos of John and the others, as well as a couple of kids Alex didn’t recognize, probably their friends, hung up in various places in the room, and in several frames of his dresser. When Alex got over to his desk, he found it littered with various half-done assignments, crumbled up sticky notes, more photos, and an open sketchbook.

Alex didn’t mean to invade his privacy at all, but the drawing that was done of Eliza on the open page was breath taking, and Alex just had to see more. He began flipping through the pages, taking in each drawings. There were multiple portraits of Eliza, Laf and Aaron, as well as the friends he didn’t know. John was able to do something amazing with his pencil, and capture someone’s very soul within his drawings. There were landscapes that were so beautiful, it made Alex want to visit the place, as well as doodles of flowers and various animals.

He was so enchanted by the drawings that he didn’t hear the door slam open and a pair of feet run up the stairs until he heard John yell from behind him, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Alex was startled and dropped the sketchbook he was holding. John scrambled to collect the book from where it hit the ground, and shot daggers at Alex the whole time.

“I-I thought you left.” He stuttered, uncomfortable under John’s fiery gaze.

“That doesn’t give you permission to go through someone’s shit.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Just get the fuck out of room.” He said coldly, grabbing an assignment off his desk and shoving his sketchbook in his bag. He walked past Alex, purposely knocking their shoulders together, throwing Alex off balance.

Alex followed John out of his room, his head hung low. He just blew his chance at making friends with all his foster siblings, and John was going to tell everyone what a horrible person he was, and they were going to kick him out and he was going to spend the next three years in some shitty group home. All because he was such an idiot.

As he was walking out Eliza caught his arm, and smiled at him softly. He didn’t even realize that she had come with John back into the house. Those two never seemed to be apart. Her chocolate eyes met his, concern and sadness filled her gaze, but he could tell it wasn’t completely directed at him. Her delicate features radiated kindness towards him, and now more than ever, Alex wanted to unlock the mystery that was Elizabeth Schuyler.

“Don’t take it personally, today is not a good day for him.” She spoke softly, her velvet voice barely audible. She let go of his arm, and trailed after a steaming John, leaving Alex standing there like an idiot.

That was the first time she had looked him directly in the eye, let alone spoke directly to him. Maybe he didn’t completely ruin his life after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever and I apologize, but I have not- and will not- abandon this fic.   
> Why was John acting like such a dick, find out in the next chapter, whenever that gets written.  
> Please, comment and tell me what you think.


	5. Chapter Five

Alex was sat at the base of the stairs when the others came home. He heard the back door open, and a flood of voices and footsteps flooded into the previously quiet house. Alex waited for John to try and go upstairs, and was going to apologize for earlier that morning.

When John finally did approach the stairs, he took one look at Alex and pushed past him to run upstairs. Alex tried to stop him, but John was quicker, and managed to escape his apology attempt. John ran up to his room, slammed and locked his door. Alex stared up the stairs where the other boy had disappeared, and Eliza came up beside him, and patted him on the shoulder, and gave him a sad smile. She wordlessly trotted up the stairs and went into her own bedroom, leaving John to fester on his own.

Alex sighed, walked over and sat down on one of the large plush chairs in the previously dubbed “party room.” Aaron was sat on the bench in front of the piano, making marks on a sheet of music composition paper, completely unaware of Alex’s presence. He watched as the young boy took a deep breath, delicately placed his fingers on the keys and began playing a beautiful melody.

Alex sat entranced as the other boy continued to play, and when the music finally stopped, the only thing Alex could think was, “Holy shit.”

Aaron jumped at the sudden arrival of a new voice, and turned around to look at Alex. The younger boy hunched in on himself, and turned back around before saying something to Alex.

“I didn’t realize that you were there.” He said softly, tugging the ends of his sleeves over his hands. Alex walked over to him and sat down on the bench next to Aaron.

“You are amazing Aaron.” He took a survey of the mess that was in front of him. Papers with composition in smudged pencil were scattered all around. “Did you write that?”

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck, a shy smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Uh, yeah, wrote that.”

Alex’s eyes grew wide, and he was stunned. He knew Aaron was intelligent, the younger boy told him that even though he was a year younger than him, they would be in the same grade because Aaron skipped a grade. His ability to write something so enchanting and sophisticated only proved to Alex that he was sitting in the presence of a genius.

He thought all of this, but that only thing that came out of his mouth again was, “holy shit.”

Aaron smiled slightly before quickly grabbing all of the papers off the piano, shoving them in his bag, and quickly running down the stairs to his room in the basement, away from Alex. Alex couldn’t help but feel as if he had done something wrong to cause Aaron to react like that.

He wasn’t the best at making friends. People found him overwhelming and too hard to handle. His mind runs at a mile a minute, going over everything twice over before other people had time to process it one time. He was loud and abrasive, and he tended to not have a brain to mouth filter. People couldn’t handle it, and so he was sent back to his social worker after a short period of time.

He didn’t want that to happen this time. He wanted this placement to work; he wanted to stay here until he turned eighteen. He wanted a family, people who cared about him for more reasons than just money from the state that he brought.

He pulled up his sleeves slightly and traced over the newly scabbed over cuts running vertically up both of his arms. When he did it he didn’t want to die, not really. He just wanted everything to stop for a moment. He wanted the voices in his head that were screaming at him to be quiet, even for just a moment.

He also wanted the people he was living with to leave him alone. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape the harsh words that made his skin crawl. Their violent threats and degrading words were too much for him to handle, and he did what he had to do.

He heard Laf’s booming voice grow closer, and he quickly tugged his sleeves back down and turned to where Laf, and a boy Alex didn’t recognize, entered.

When Alex looked at the boy, his heart started beating at an accelerated pace. He was so beautiful, and Alex couldn’t help but swoon just a little bit. He was almost just as tall as Lafayette, but his hair forming a beautiful halo around his head made him see just a bit taller. Even from the distance they were at, Alex could see the swirling and enchanting nature of his brown eyes, and his shy smile caused the tips of Alex’s ears to turn pink.

Lafayette cleared their throat, breaking whatever spell Alex was under, and Alex could tell that the mystery boy was just has enchanted as he was.

“Alex, mon ami, this is my best friend Thomas.” Laf said, gesturing to the other boy. He smiled softly as he walked over to where Alexander was sat. He stuck his hand out for Alex to shake, and when Alex took it, he swears there were sparks between them.

“Nice to meet you.” Thomas said sweetly, and Alex almost fainted right there. His voice was deep and smooth, much more mature than anyone Alex had met. It was silky sweet, and Alex could listen to that voice for hours.

Alex meant to say something back, but when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out. He felt his face heat up, and was sure the tips of his ears were pink. Sweat sprouted up along his hairline, and only got worse the more he tried to speak and nothing happened.

Thomas was looking at Alex with a curious gaze, and desperate to keep from embarrassing himself even more, Alex quickly stood up, almost tripping over the bench, and quickly sprinted out of the room, up the stairs and into his bedroom. He closed the door, and slid down it so he as sitting in front of it, trying to catch his breath.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, and when he felt like he wasn’t going to hyperventilate, he stood up. He walked over to his night stand where Martha had put a glass of water earlier, and took a long drink.

After drinking the water, he felt significantly better, and went over to the desk and sat down. He pulled out the brand new journal the Washington’s had bought for him, and began writing. He wrote down everything that had happened. He wrote down what had happened with John earlier, to his interaction with the shy Aaron, to his meeting Thomas. He got so lost in his writing that he didn’t realize how much time had passed, until Martha was calling everyone down for dinner.

He finished his sentence, closed his journal, put it in the desk drawer, and walked out of his room. At dinner, he was determined to apologize to John, and to tell the other boy how good of an artist he was.

He just hoped Thomas wouldn’t be joining them; he couldn’t stand to embarrass himself in front of the most beautiful person he had ever met. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I defineitly said we would see what was wrong with John, but I got a little carried away with some other things and I really wanted to post this chapter, so we will see John next chapter.  
> Exciting news though, we finally met Thomas! Are you excited? I'm excited.  
> Comment and tell me what you think, I crave attention and adoration. <3


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